1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology in which an image taken, for example, by a digital camera or a color document scanner is transmitted after color correction, via a communications medium to an external device, such as a computer, server, network printer, network copier, or facsimile.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. H6-205204 discloses an image processing device that uses a color document scanner to prescan and read a document, judges an image type, such as monochrome/color or dot photograph/silver halide photograph, based on image data, stores the judgment result, and, in a final scan, subjects image data to a color correcting process determined as being suited to the image type based on the judgment result. When transmitting image data, read from a document image, to a computer, etc., a long time is required to transmit the image to the computer and operator working efficiency is low because a prescan and a final scan are performed.
Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2001-285653 discloses an image processing device that temporarily stores data read from a document in a memory, then judges a document image type (color/gray scale/binary monochrome), and upon converting the image data in the memory, transmits the data to an external device. Because time for judging the image type and time for subsequently converting the image data according to the judgment result are required in addition to the time for reading the document using a scanner, a long time is required to transmit an image to a computer and operator working efficiency is low in this case as well.
Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. H10-326336 discloses an image processing device that writes R, G, and B image data generated by an image reading device, into a color image file and writes the G data as they are into a gray scale image file. When the reading of an entire document ends, the image processing device performs a base removing process on the image data in the gray scale image file to prepare binary monochrome image data, writes the binary monochrome image data into a monochrome image file, displays an image of the image data in the color image file on a color image display property sheet, displays an image of the image data in the gray scale image file on a gray scale image display property sheet, and displays an image of the image data in the binary monochrome image file on a binary monochrome image display property sheet. However, it is unclear as to the image data (color image data, gray scale image data, or binary monochrome image data) of which image file express the document image appropriately. Thus, when image data need to be transmitted to an external device, if an image file of just one type is transmitted to the external device, image data of inappropriate image expression may be transmitted. If the image files of the three types are transmitted to the external device, image processes at the external device become complex and operator working efficiency becomes poor.
Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2001-333282 discloses an image processing system in which, for example, a personal computer PC is connected to a facsimile with a scanner function, an image processing device simultaneously executes a color image process and a simplified monochrome image process on image data read from a document, transmits the color image data resulting from the color image process to the PC, and performs facsimile transmission of the image data obtained by the simplified monochrome image process. However, because color image data are transmitted to the PC, color image data of a large data volume may be transmitted to the PC while transmitting a monochrome binary image, and the data processing load of the PC may thus be excessive.